Making the Cut
by lotzalove
Summary: Greg Sanders, CSI 2, has a point to prove. A shopping spree, suspicous plumber and tangerine ex-girlfriend lead Greg, Sara and Nick down a confusing road. Meanwhile, Greg gets a sense of nostalgia for his days in the lab. No pairings. My first CSI fanfic!
1. The Coffee Machine

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own CSI or anything else you recognise.**

His coffee should be ready by now. Greg Sanders frowned at the coffee machine which sat stubbornly on the table, filled with lukewarm water refusing to boil. He was just about to start sweet talking the machine, promising to clean it later in exchange for its functioning as it was supposed to, when Nick Stokes entered the break room, carrying a takeaway bag.

"Having trouble with the machine again G?" Nick teased.

"It's out to get me man" Greg groaned. "Something tells me we were enemies in a past life."

Nick laughed and sat down in one of the chairs in front of the T.V. He turned on the news and opened his takeaway bag. An aroma of chinese food filled the room but Greg was too intent on fixing the coffee machine to try and beg some cantonese chicken from Nick. Instead, he carried on pushing buttons on the machine and massaging it lighly in the hope of some coffee-related action.

"You gonna help me out here or are you just gonna sit there on your ass all day?" he challenged Nick

Nick just laughed and went back to his takeaway.

"Come on dude! It's blue hawaiin here! I can't let it go to waste! And I only got ten more minutes before I gotta go get my results from Hodges, then meet Catherine about he D.B. off Henderson THEN talk to Archie about my mysterious 911 call! I'm not gonna get anymore time to make coffee! Help me?"

Nick finally got up and made his way over to the machine. He switched it off, then back on again, keyed in the right settings for Greg's precious coffee and pressed start. Even though this was what Greg had been doing for 20 minutes, the machine now decided to start bubbling away, boiling water and mixing it with the coffee beans. It never failed to amaze Greg how everything seemed to go right for Nick Stokes. He grinned mockingly at Greg and took another spring roll out of his bag.

"Are you okay to pour it into the cup yourself?" he teased.

Greg tried and failed to think of something witty to say, so he satisfied himself by sticking his tongue out at Nick. The Texan laughed again. There was something about Greg's childish attitude to everything, even crime, that made him feel at ease. Greg took his coffee and tottered off to find Hodges, muttering something about pirates. Nick couldn't help but smile.

Greg had been right. His D.B. really was a pirate. Catherine had laughed at him and reminded him that look can be decietfull but this one time, Greg had been correct. The eyepatch was the first giveaway of course, and the stripy t-shirt, but the bottle of rum in his rucksack was what drove him to this conclusion. He laughed at the computer screen, which displayed the criminal records of Harrold Langford, his dead pirate. Arrested 16 times for piracy! This guy wore hidden state-of-the-art cameras when he went to the movie theatre and then uploaded all his videos onto one of those illegal websites. Somewhat suspicous that his body was "found" at a movie theatre, Greg thought. He grinned. Greg couldn't wait to go talk to Catherine now. He had pretty much crakced this case. Unfortunately, on his way to his assistant supervisors office, Grissom called him.

"How's your case going?" he asked him.

"Pretty good Gris, I think I've pretty much solved it." Greg failed to hide the sense of accomplishment in his voice.

"Great" Grissom answered. "So you can leave Catherine to finish that. I've got a new assignment for you and Sara."

"Sure thing Griss-o" Greg replied, taking the case file from him.

Grissom flinched at the unfamiliar nickname but chose to ignore it.

"Brass will meet you there." He said, as Greg strode out of the room.

"And Greg?" he called at the retreating figure, "Do something about your hair."

Greg just chuckled at Grissom, before leaving to find Catherine. He loved his hair.


	2. The Italian Leather Shoes

Sara Sidle was confused. Something about this guy just didn't add up. She poured over his bank statement again. The dude bought nothing regularly, then all of a sudden he goes on a wild spending spree and ends up heavily in debt? The guy had no source of income at all. He never paid his bills. So one day he just gets up, has a cocktail for breakfast, buys 5 different newspapers, pays all his bills, goes on a shopping spree, joins a gym, a football club, even gets a MASSAGE, then goes to a bar with his neighbour, who he hardly even knows, and buys him loads of beer? Something just didnt fit.

BANK STATEMENT

Tuesday 5th

$2 - milk

$1 - newspaper

$20 - 6 pack of beer

$17.50 - chinese takeaway

Wedenesday 6th

$2.50 - coffee

$36 - groceries

$1 - newspaper

$10.20 - pizza takeaway

Thursday 7th

$10 - breakfast cocktail

$1 - newspaper

$1 - newspaper

$1 - newspaper

$1 - newspaper

$1 - newspaper

$23941 - gas bill

$30069 - electric bill

$19754 - phone bill

$9165 - gold watch

$400 - cash withdrawal

$900 - Italian shoes

$250 - cashmere jumper

$1000 - designer suglasses

$50 - sushi lunch platter

$300 - football membership

$1000 - gym membership

$45 - massage and jacuzzi

$ 67 - beer at bar

$500 - cable T.V. installation

total ammount in bank =

$ -2581900

(negative number)

"Yo Sidle, what up?"

As always, she heard Greg Sanders before she saw him. I talked to his neighbour, the plumber, and neighbours. I have made out a timeline! I also did a little background research on some of his friends and family." he said, tossing Sara a few sheets of white paper, stapled at one corner.

timeline

2:00 he goes to the pub with joe

3:00 he goes home to his house

5:00 the plumber shows up

5:20 the plumber leaves

7:30 a neighbour, Brian comes to borrow eggs. Gets no answer when he knocks on the door. Goes to window and looks in, sees the body and calls the cops

8:00 we arrive at the scene

JOE

his neighbour, talks to David occasionally

lives 1 minute away

no record

married with 3 kids

got cross with David because he kept paying for everything

PLUMBER

never seen him before

no permanent adress

no record

single

didn't talk to David

other NEIGHBOUR - Brian

talks to David occasionally

lives 30 seconds away

no record

engaged

no fights with David

EX-GIRLFRIEND - Bianca

hasn't talked to David in 3 years

lives 30 minutes away

arrested 5 times, twice for theft, twice for drunk driving and once for drug posession

fought with David when she broke up with him, she had a restraining order against him.

"Take a look at his bank statement" she asked him.

"Woah man, that's wierd."

"Isn't it?"

"Why the sudden change?"

"Well, duh... his card must have been stolen!"

Greg took another look over the bank statement.

"Nah" he said.

Sara was annoyed. How could he just look at the evidence once and decide he knew best?

"Why would you say that?" she challenged.

"Well..." he said, as if he was a little boy desperately trying to prove to his mother that he was worth something "Nobody is going to steal your card, then pay your bills for you are they? Not to metion the money spent in the pub fits in with the neighbours story. There is no way this card was stolen."

Sara frowned, what he was saying made sense but something wasn't quite right. Then she realised something, the guy had withdrawn cash! She yelled to Greg, then ran into Archie's AV lab, where she got up the camera at the nearest ATM machine on the laptop. Greg pumped his fist in the air, victoriously. She sighed with frustration. There was no doubt about it, that was him. David Moloney, taking money from the machine, grinning wildly. She looked for suspicous charecters behind him, but he was alone. There goes her theory.

Taking another look at all the information Greg had printed and her bank statement, she suddenly thought of something. Where are all the things he bought? She voiced her question aloud to Greg.

"We better go back to the crime scene" he said, slipping his new black sunglasses onto his nose.

* * *

Shopping bags littered the entrance, each one with a receipt for something he had bought. inside. Mysteriously, there was no sign of his Italian shoes, his gold watch, his cashmere jumper or his designer sunglasses. Also the bags had fallen over, one was ripped. Whoever took the things out of here was really in a hurry. Greg dusted and printed the bags, then took the prints back to the lab to Mandy. When he returned to the crime scene again, he saw Sarasitting behind the television.

"I got blood."

Greg hugged the walls as he walked ove to join her. He didnt want to upset the evidence. He saw what Sara was looking at. A long, streak of blood lay on one of the television wires. Sara took a sample, then dusted the wire. He saw a strip of skin prints behind it, not hand or foot prints, but maybe from an arm, leg or neck. There were two finger prints at either side of where the skin and blood were.

"Somebody held this wire against somebodies neck, tight enough to make them bleed, maybe even die from strangulation." Sara stated. "And since our vic had no neck injuries..."

"It was probably somebody else that was attacked" Greg finished. He dusted the rest of the wires and found a few more prints. Nothing probative there. He did wonder who had been touching the wires recently but then again, lots of people fixed their T.V.s by putting wires in and out. He turned on the television. It worked fine now.

"Hey Sara! This guy's got cable! 3000 channels!" Greg stared in awe at the television.

"3000? That can't have been cheap."

"Hey! Didn't the bank statement say something ablout cable T.V.?"

"Em... yeah I think so... We can check it out when we get bach to the lab. Good work Greg."

Greg saluted her and then went back to the baseball game on the television.

"Go Angels!" he yelled.

Sara sighed.

"Come on Greg, you can watch baseball in your own time! Pass me the fingerprint powder would you?"

Greg , refusing to take his eyes off the screen, tossed the powder over his shoulder. He heard Sara gasp and he turned around, fast. The powder had split all over the floor.

"Sara, I'm sorry, I swear I didn't mean to -"

But Sara was staring at the floor. Greg followed her gaze. He too gasped.

Drag marks. Right in the middle of the floor. Two hand prints. It would be pretty hard to get a proper print from those, but he knew Mandy would try her best. Somebody had been dragged across the floor.


	3. The Plumber

Sara and Greg stood in the morgue, waiting for Doctor Al. Robbins to finish stitching up their victim.

"T.O.D.?"

"Gun shot to the back of the head."

"Other than that, perfect health. Not on any medication. Judging by the alcohol in his stomach, I'd say he had 3 beers. No other alcohol." He said, handing them the tox report.

"Any signs of a struggle?"

"Burns on his hands. And it looks like somebody punched him in the nose. Not very hard though. It's not broken. I also found these yellow fibers on his trousers and on his nose. Wool."

Sara took the tube he was handing her and looked at the short yellow strings inside. Then the doctor answered their last question.

"T.O.D. is between 4:00 and 5:00."

"No way... Greg said, looking at his timeline again. That means..."

* * *

"I didn't kill anybody." the plumber insisisted.

"Maybe not, but you were in the house after he died."

"I didn't talk to him. I assumed he wasn't home."

"We also went throught the vic's bank statement, no mention of plumbing. There is also no sign that the pipes have been touched recently."

"I wore gloves. And I was gonna charge him later. I um... had to go. Early"

"Was it your prints on some shopping bags in the vic's home? Empty shopping bags."

"The guy looked at his lawyer for help, then said "I dropped my phone and I was looking in all the bags trying to find it. They were already empty. Can I go?"

"Sure. But we're gonna need to take your prints, so we can rule you out as a suspect. And don't leave town."

The guy shifted uneasily in his chair. He whispered something to his lawyer.

"Do you have a warrant for my clients prints?" he aksed.

"No, but we can get one. It would be much easier if you gave them up voluntarily. Refusing is going to look a bit suspicous, you must understand."

Greg marvelled at Sara's cool calm voice from through the window outside the interview room. One day, he vowed, he would interview suspects and do it just as well as she did. He watched the plumber clumsily put his hand on the paper, then move it over an inch, smudging the print. Sara had to start all over again and this time the guy didn't put his hand down firmly enough, so the print was too light. Sara seemed to be loosing her patience, but after a nudge from his lawyer, the plumber finally got it right. Sara also collected a DNA sample (after 3 failed attempts) from the plumber and then finally sent him on his way.

"Stay in town." Brass reminded him as he and his lawyer left the room.

Greg narrowed his eyes at the retreating figure. Something was definately not right about that guy. Greg had seen people mess with them before, one guy even going so far as to bite the cotton swab right out of Catherine's hand, but this guy was different. Something made Greg think that this guy wasn't playing with them, he just really didn't want to give them his prints and DNA. Greg ran back to the break room and got out his laptop. It was time to find out a little bit more about this plumber.

* * *

Greg was jolted back to reality by Nick's voice.

"Hey Greggo, slow night. Griss says I can work with you and Sara until he gets a new case for me. Watcha got?"

"Well..." Greg looked up from his notes. "My search on Tommy Barbers - the plumber - drew up a blank. There is no record of him ever being born! He has no family, has only lived in his apartment for 2 months, has no previous address and no criminal record."

Nick frowned. and Greg carried on.

"So...I called all the plumbing companies and none of them have any guy called Tommy Barbers - our plumber" he added. "Brian, Davids neighbour had been taking this photo with his family and caught the plumber going into the house in the background. That's how we knew the plumber was there in the first place. I got Archie to check it out in more detail and I got this guy walking into the house, with a tool kit. The photo was taken at 5:00, just like his story says. But... when we zoomed in closer..." Greg enlarged the picture "I realised his costume seemed a little familiar. My friend dressed up as a plumber for a fancy dress party last Halloween. Got his costume on e-bay. It's the exact same one."

Greg opened a new tab and pulled up e-bay. He showed Nick the picture PLUMBER COSTUME OVERALLS DRESS UP.

"So I called the owners and got the list of people who bought this costume." Tommy Barbers is of course, one of them. And he bought a whole lot of other things from them too. Fireman, carpenter, electritian, phone company, policeman, doctor, even a chimney cleaner outfit. And all these deliveries started the day he moved in to this apartment. No other deliveries to this or any adress before that. This guy is creeping me out."

He let Nick take in all the information. Handing Nick his notes, he watched as he read the bank statement, timeline and research Greg had done. Greg decided to order a pizza.

"Wanna pizza, man?" he asked Nick.

"Sure. You buying?"

"Why should I?"

"As I recall, you still owe me twenty buck for the last pizza you ordered."

Greg sighed and called the pizza company. He ordered a Hawaiin pizza for Sara too, feeling generous.

"Where is Sara anyway?" Nick asked.

"She has some sort of a hunch about the vics ex-girlfriend Bianca so she's doing more research, you know looking for any signs that they were in contact recently."

At that moment, Sara burst into the break room, grinning triumphantly and brandishing a sheet of paper.

"Look what I found" she teasesd "David's last will and testament"

"Most people tend to have them" Greg replied sarcstically "I gotta go the lobby and wait for my pizzas."

Sara walked alongside him, closely followed by Nick. She passed them both a copy of David's will. Greg stopped in shock. This was beyond odd.

LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT

I David Moloney, leave my entire estate to Bianca Edmonds

she is to be my sole beneficiary when I die

signed,

DAVID MOLONEY

date modified = 7th of March, 2012

Reading the fine print at the bottem, he turned to Sara in confusion. Modified on the day he died? This guy is odd.

"Don't you get it Greg?" Sara asked him "His ex-wife shows up, manages to talk him into buying her sunglasses, a sweater, shoes, a watch, a massage and jacuzzi then changes his will to make sure everything else is left to her as well. She didn't realise how heaily in debt he was after her spree."

Greg shook his head. What Sara was saying made sense but it wasn't right. He had a feeling.

"Poor girl" Nick said "Now she has to pay off all his debt."

"She deserves it." Sara retorted. "Gold digger."

Greg saw the delivery man arriving and he happily left the conversation to pay for his pizzas. Sara and Nick continued to discuss Bianca as he carried the boxes into the break room. He didn't feel the urge to join in. The plumber was bad. He knew it. He just had to prove it. But first of all, he wanted his pizza.


	4. The Pizza

In the end, Greg didn't get much pizza. It was nearly the end of shift and people packing up followed him and his pizza boxes as if he was the pied piper. Each door they passed, they picked up another few followers and by the time they got to the break room they had gathered quite a crowd. Warrick and Catherine, Wendy and Mandy, Hodges, Henry, Archie and Bobby. Dr. Robbins and Dave along with Grissom, met them on their way past the morgue and even Brass and Sofia happened to be in the building. Everyone wanted pizza. Only Sara was safe from the vultures. Nobody really liked vegetarian pizza.

It felt right, all of them together. Greg couldn't remember the last time they'd all been in the same room at the same time, except for the lab's annual christmas party. Even then, there was always a lot of sheriffs, cops, and of course - Conrad Ecklie, there so he never really got the chance to talk to all his friends at once.

All too soon, the pizza was finished and the lab techs started to head home. Brass and Sofia went back to the station and Dave and Dr. Robbins left, greeting the day shift coroner on the way in. Catherine, Warrick, Grissom, Nick and Sara had to be going too. Only Greg wasn't ready to go home yet.

Making his way to the DNA lab he inhaled its familiar scent. Unable to resist it, he sat down on the desk chair and began to spin round in circles. The dayshift DNA tech wouldn't be in for at least 3 hours. That gave him time. He brought his cup of blue hawaiin to his lips. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

It was strange, the way Wendy had moved things around. It didn't feel like his lab any more. Looking back, Greg decided that was a good thing. He was CSI level 2 now, not the lab tech with the crazy hair. As Greg sifted through the pile of papers on Wendy's desk, looking for the plumbers DNA and prints, he didn't envy her. He remembered the job well. You get sent something, you put it into a machine, press a few buttons, then give your findings to the CSI's. Often, you didn't even know what the case was about. He remembered running sample after sample, printing out result after result, working doubles, even triples without any mention of overtime, having to hold the results hostage to get people to talk to him. He remembered it well.

He also remembered dancing. Head back, hands out, Marilyn Manson blasting on the stereo. He was a rockstar. He was a superhero. He owned this lab, it was his, and he could do whatever he wanted with it. He was himself, and nobody ever challenged that. Laughing at the familiar memories, he went out to refill his coffee. As he passed the locker room, he had an idea. He opened his locker and dug deep into it. He found it in the back corner. A green and black hawaiin shirt. Grabbing some hair gel, he respiked us hair. He brought his coffee back to the lab and borrowed one of Henry's lab coats. One final touch. The music. As the lyrics of "Feel Like Making Love" filled the lab, he felt at home. And so, drumming his fingers on the edge of the table that had been there for 12 years, Greg got to work.

* * *

"You paged me?"

"I may have made an important discovery last night. Wait for Nick. I want you both to hear."

"Hey G, you paged?"

"Great." Greg smacked his hands together in anticipation. He was back in a navy blue button down shirt and his hair had been unspiked. "Last night, I ran our evidence myself in between shifts. It was near the bottom of Wendy's pile since everybody is busy with Grissom and Catherine's serial killer case. And when I ran our plumbers prints through CODIS, guess what I found?"

The two watched him, with baited breath. It reminded Greg of when he used to make them play games to guess what their results might be.

"This guy... is not who he says he is. His prints match a James Fenton, wanted in 12 states for burglary and breaking an entry. On the run for 3 years, last time anybody saw him was 2 months ago. But even wierder... His DNA? His real name is Roger Mandora. Born in Alabama in 1976. Parents died in a car crash when he has 11. Wanted for burglary, breaking an entry and attempted bank robbery in 31 states. When he was 30, he just disappeared. Nobody ever saw this guy again. Six years. Which, convieniantly, is also the same time James Fenton rented his first appartment and registered for his first credit card."

Greg pulled up the pictures of all three men. There was no doubt about it. They were one and the same.

"So Tommy Barbers is really three people? And his fingerprint are different to his DNA? How did he manage that?" Nick asked.

"The guy must be wearing something called 'skin gloves' which you put on over your hand and they have the exact same texture as skin. They also have new fingerprints on them. Me and Warrick once found a serial killer who wore those." Sara explained.

"So, the guy is wanted in to many states to keep on hiding so he changes his identity and fingerprints. His new identity, James Fenton gets arrested, because this guy isn't willing to stop stealing. When he is arrested, he gives them his prints, with his gloves on. He obviously was never asked for a DNA sample. Anyway, then he decides to start over again, again. He picks the name Tommy Barbers and orders more gloves... But they hadn't arrived yet so he decided to go without. This guy dresses up as people who claim they need to fix something in your house, so you let them in. Then he takes your stuff and runs. Because he's a different guy every time, people never realise the danger."

"But" Nick was wary "If he was trying to change his identity, why would he leave fingerprints in the house? That would link him to James Fenton right?"

Greg had the answer to that too "the other 7 burglaries in the past 2 months, not a single print had been left. All the owner of the houses say is that it was a carpenter or a fireman or a doctor etc. who stole their stuff. Sine he's not an official carpenter/fireman/doctor he's not registered, so nobody has been able to track him down. When he was James Fenton, he used to cover imself in fake blood and appear at the door, begging for help. When he was Roger Mandora, he used to pretend that he was a friend of a family member who had gotten sick. He would ask to use the bathroom, take stuff, then exit out the bathroom window. The guy couldn't wear gloves for either of those jobs because it would look suspicous. Tommy Barbers, is always very carefull. Assuming these last seven burglaries are him" he passed Nick and Sara some police reports "and they are in the same order as he bought the costumes" Greg gave them each a printout from ebay "then this guy never left a single print in the house."

Sara looked from the reports, to the ebay list what Greg was saying made sense. Tuesday the 18th, he ordered a carpenter outfit. Thursday the 20th, a carpenter steals from a house in Mayside. Friday the 21st, he ordered an electritian outfit. Monday the 24th, an electritian steals from an aprtment in Panfield. It all fitted in.

"Why was David Moloney different?" she asked him.

"My guess, David comes home, lets the guy in, then catches him taking stuff, ever so carefully, out of the bags. David threatens to call the cops unless he puts the stuff back. While dropping the things back in the bags, he gets his prints on them and also gets them messed up beacuase he's in a rush. The he realises that his cover is blown anyway. They will match his prints on the stuff he was stealing to James Fenton. So he kills the guy. They get into a struggle, the plumber attempts to choke him with the television wire but then he pulls out a gun, pushes David into a chair and shoots him in the head. He takes the stuff again and runs."

Nick began to congratulate him but Sara refused to be converted. "Nice theory Greg, but what about the will? Why would the plumber leave everything to Bianca? How did the guy even get his hands on Davids personal account. How did he have time to change the will?"

"The will is unrelated" Greg said. "I still don't know why it was changed, but I'm pretty certain it wasn't changed by the plumber. Now, lets go find Wendy and Mandy. I asked them to compare the blood and prints found on the wires to our victim and our plumber."

The three of them went to see the lab techs. Unfortunately for Greg, they were in for a bit of a surprise.


	5. The Blonde

"I ran it three times." Wendy insisted. The blood does not belong to David Moloney or Tommy Barbers, or James Fenton, OR Roger Mandora. It belongs to an unkown male. It's new blood, only there less than 48 hours. I'm sorry Greg."

* * *

"Greg, your prints don't match this plumber guy at all. The prints at either side of your blood belong to David Moloney and the other prints on the wires all belong to an unidentified male."

Greg sighed. His theory wasn't looking so great.

"Would you run it against Wendy's unknown male? I want to see if we got the same guy."

"Sure." Mandy said, gathering her files. "Come pick the tests up in an hour?"

* * *

Bianca Edmonds was a blonde. She had tangerine skin and turquoise eyes. Her miniature shorts were pink, as was her crop top. She wore 12 inch heels and make-up. Lots of it.

"I swear, I ain't seen David in 3 years."

"Describe your realtionship with him prior to that."

"We were like... involved... for a year. Then I dumped his ass because he would never buy me anything. He would pretend picnics were more romantic than dinner at a five star restaraunt and camping was more fun than hotels. The guy was a miser."

"How did he take the break up?"

"Not very well. Went crazy. Stalked me for a month. I got a restraining order against him. Never saw him again."

"Do you know he left everything he owns to you?"

Bianca's eyes lit up. "How much are we talking here?"

"Well, he was heavily in debt. Once the state sells his house, it still won't pay it all off so, that responsibility falls to you."

Bianca thumped her fist on the table.

"Stupid little shit! So this is how he gets back at me! If he wasn't already dead I would kill this sorry sonovabitch!"

"M'am, I would strongl adivse that you calm down." The officer recommeneded.

Sara showed Bianca a picture of the plumber.

"Do you recognise this guy?"

"No. I ain't never seen him before."

* * *

Nick Stokes hoped that Grissom would have a new case for him soon. He didn't like being an assistant to Greg and Sara. Dumpster diving was Greg's job. Not his. He sighed and continued rumaging through the bin. Nothing.

When Greg had found a glove wit blood on it sitting in front of this bin, he had called the other two. The glove was yellow. There had been yellow fibers on David's trousers. These gloves might belong to the person who dragged him across the floor. Sara had ran back to the lab to check the prints inside the glove and Greg decided it would be fun to wait and watch Nick wade through the garbage. After they'd found a gun with more yellow fibers, but no prints, Greg got really excited.

"Having fun?" he taunted.

"Oh yeah... this is great" the Texan replied.

He finally found the second glove.

"Here we go, your majesty..."

"Why don't you keep looking?" Greg laughed. "You might find some more evidence."

Nick narrowed his eyes at Greg and carried on searcing. This was pointless. They had the gloves, why couldn't they just go? He opened up one more bin bag - just to keep Greg happy - and emptied the contents onto the ground. A pair of shoes, a watch, sunglassses and a sweater fell out. They all looked brand new.

"Hey G come take a look at this!"

Greg sauntered up and took a look at what he had just found.

"Bag that stuff and take it back tot the lab. This is the results of David's shopping spree and Tommy's stealing spree."

Nick got out of the dumpster. Finally.

* * *

The prints on the stuff from the dumpster matches the plumber so they have enough to finally arrest him. For theft, not murder. The prints inside the yellow gloves matched the unknown prints from the wires. Sara Sidle watched Nick calling Brass and telling him to arrest Tommy/James/Roger. He layed sheets out on the table in front of her. They were going over their notes while waiting to interview the plumber again.

"So, here's what we know so far" he beagn. "The plumber comes in, takes the stuff, put it back in the bag, then takes it out again. He leaves the house and dumps the stuff. There's the who and the how, we just need the why."

"Also" Nick adds "The unknown guy, is touching wires. David tries to strangle him with the wire and then the guy punches David in the nose, drags him across the floor, and shoots him in the head. He then leaves, dumps the gloves and the gun and disapears."

"This probably happened before the plumber arrives" Sara said, looking at the timeline. "So when the plumber came, he was already dead. I think they were in this together, the plumber and the unknown guy. The only thing that doesn't make sense is why he dumped the stuff."

Nick's pager beeped.

"Why don't we go ask him?" he suggested "Brass says they found the guy. He was leaving town, apparently."

"Let's go" Sara smiled.


	6. The Television

"So" he looked around nervously "you gonna tell me why I'm here?"

Brass gave him a patronising smile.

"Why don't you tell me why you were skipping town?"

The guy shifted uneasily in his seat. "I got a plumbing job out of town."

Brass stopped smiling. "Cut the crap, we know you're not really a plumber. We also know that Tommy's not your real name. And neither, for that matter, is James. So why don't you tell us what really happened and we can try and cut down on your jail time here? Roger."

The plumber went white. "What happened... when?" he asked, feigning innocence.

Brass reached under the table. He pulled out the gold watch. "This look familiar to you?"

"No... I've never seen it before."

"Then how come your prints are all over it?"

"I must have picked it up by accident."

"Okay... I'm gonna make this easier for the both of us. I'll tell you what we know. We know that you went into the house around the time he died. You took his watch, shoes, sweater and sunglasses, put them back, then took them out again. You left, and threw the stuff in a dumpster. Stealing from a dead or dying guy doesn't look too good for you does it? We could get you for murder. So speak up."

"I swear, I didn't kill him! He was already dead!"

Brass raised an eyebrow at him. "Sure."

* * *

Greg looked from the timeline to the bank statement again and again.

Thursday 7th

$10 - breakfast cocktail

$1 - newspaper

$1 - newspaper

$1 - newspaper

$1 - newspaper

$1 - newspaper

$23941 - gas bill

$30069 - electric bill

$19754 - phone bill

$9165 - gold watch

$400 - cash withdrawal

$900 - Italian shoes

$250 - cashmere jumper

$1000 - designer suglasses

$50 - sushi lunch platter

$300 - football membership

$1000 - gym membership

$45 - massage and jacuzzi

$ 67 - beer at bar

$500 - cable T.V. installation

timeline

2:00 he goes to the pub with joe

3:00 he goes home to his house

5:00 the plumber shows up

5:20 the plumber leaves

7:30 a neighbour, Brian comes to borrow eggs. Gets no answer when he knocks on the door. Goes to window and looks in, sees the body and calls the cops

8:00 we arrive at the scene

The unknown blood and prints were a match, but they still had no idea who the guy was. The bullets from the gun matched the bullet in David's head. All they knew was, somebody had been in the house in between David coming home and David dying. Then he saw something. The beers at the bar were the last known thing on the timeline. Yet according to his bank statement, he had bought the beers before he had cable T.V. installled. Which means that must have happened after he got home from the bar. That must be whose prints were on the wires, he was working on the T.V. Why hadn't the guy who installed the T.V. come forward? Greg ran to find Nick and Sara. Little lie, big lie.

* * *

The plumber was sweating now.

"I'm gonna tell you again. I was all dresssed up as a plumber, I pick a random house. I knock on the door, nobody answers. But the door was left open so I went inside. I saw the bags at the front door so I took some stuff. Nice things he had. Then I go into the next room, looking for more stuff and BAMM! dead guy sitting in a chair, blood coming out of his head. I put his stuff back, it feels rude, you know, taking stuff from a dead guy. Then I realise I can't put it back beacuse they'll get my prints so I take it again. Then I bolt. I dump the stuff on the way home because they don't feel right. The whole thing creeped me out like! So I was wandering past his house, checking that somebody had found him and hoping he didn't have a grieving wife or crying kids, when I see this neighbour guy, talking to the cops. Brendan, I think he said."

"Brian?" Brass interupted.

"Sure. Anyway this BrendanBrian guy is telling the cops that he say a plumber walking in at 5 o' clock so I have to come forward. I was skipping town 'cos I figured you'd catch me soon. I try to avoid police snooping around me too much. But I swear, I didn't kill anybody."

"He didn't catch you in the act and threaten to call the cops? You didn't have a fight and accidentally shoot him?"

"Hey, Mr. Cop, I'm telling you I -

"Wait!" Greg ran into the interview room.

"Now is not the time, Greg" Brass muttered, through gritted teeth.

"Sorry Brass, but this is important. You got the wrong guy."

Behind the glass, Nick heard Sara inhale sharply. They turned to look at each other in confusion.

"The man we're looking for is a cable guy."


	7. The Burgers

Nick was phoning every cable company in Las Vegas and he and Sara were discussing the rest of the evidence over burgers. Sara winced every time Greg took a bite of his.

"Do you have a problem with my lunch Sara?"

"I just wish you would try a veggie burger one day. You'd like it, I know you would."

Greg ignored her and took an extra large bite of his burger, growling a little as he tore it off. Sara rolled her eyes.

"I know that Roger is an expert con and all that, but I believe his story." Sara said, changing the subject.

"Even if our cable guy did do it, it still doesn't explain the spending spree and the will. His neighbours say he was a miserable man. Not the kind of guy to go wild and buy everything in sight. Something's off." Greg insisted.

"I still like Bianca for this."

"We found none of her prints at the scene. She just unfortunately got stuck with paying his debt. Hey" a lightbulb went off in his head "remember what Bianca said when we asked her about the will? She thought he'd done it on purpose. Maybe he did. He wanted her to be stuck paying off his debts."

"It doesn't make any sense. He wasn't to know he'd die that day. It's too much of a coincidence that the will was modified then. And the spending spree? He can't have been planning to spend the rest of his life in debt, wearing a gold watch but living in a motel, can he?"

"Unless... he knew he was going to die that day! He was waiting for it."

"Psychic?"

"No... suicidal."

Nick entered the room eating his own burger and waved a sheet of paper.

"Nigel Watson" he proclaimed.

"Nice to meet you Nigel, I'm Greg."

He laughed dryly.

"Hi Greggo, pleased to meet you. I found our guy. Brass is calling him in now. Push over."

Greg moved slightly to make space for Nick on the bench.

"Do we have access to his bank records?" Greg wanted to know.

"Sure" Nick said, opening up the laptop. "Here we go, Nigel Watson."

"Go to Thursday" Greg ordered. "As I thought. $400 lodged. He also had to pay for a trip to the doctors. Maybe to fix a cut on his neck?"

"I don't get it? Why would he lodge $400?" Nick was confused.

Sara explained. "We think, that David may have been suicidal. He withdrew $400 from his account, maybe it was to pay off a helper. He seemed to think that murder would be better than suicide. But maybe..."

"...The guy didn't want to help him die. He might have put up a fight." Nick said, catching on. "Good theory. Lets go talk to our man."

* * *

"So I said no way! I didn't care if he gave me 400 bucks, hell, I didn't even care if he gave me 4000 bucks. Then he's like stranguling me with this wire so I agree. He gives me a pair of gloves to wear and I do it."

"What exactly did you 'do' sir?" Greg asked, trying to control the tremble in his voice. He was actually interviewing somebody!

"I dragged him across the floor and punched him in the nose, as he requested. I sh-sh-shot him in the b-back of the h-hea-h-h-head and then I ran. Faster than I've ever run in my life, the money buring a hole in my pocket. I dumped the gun and the gloves. Then I went home, told my wife I loved her, and tried to go back to normal. But it didn't. I don't think it ever will."

A single tear rolled down the mans cheek.

"I love my family, please don't arrest me. I didn't mean to do anything wrong!"

The man was hysterical now.

"It's ok man - sir. I'm sure you'll be okay" Greg promised, even though he wasn't sure where Nevada laws stood on assistant to suicide in self defense. Especially if the one you were defending yourself from was the one you end up killing. That was pretty twisted. All the same, he patted the man's back and watched him be cuffed and taken away.

The best part of the job was catching the bad guys. Times like this though, Greg knew that the bad guys were the guys who were already dead. Sadly, they always have to drag a few innocent people down with them. There were times, times like these, when he hated his job.


	8. The Dancing

Greg was talking to the coffee machine again when Nick called him.

"Grissom wants to see you in his office Greg."

He popped his head round the door.

"I'll fix the machine. Again."

Greg knocked twice beofr ecoming into Grissom's office. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other uneasily. This office always gave him the creeps. All the things in jars, it reminded Greg of the witches, from Macbeth, the only play he ever read. He remembered it from his senior year.

_Double, double toil and trouble; _

_Fire burn, and caldron bubble. _

_Fillet of a fenny snake, _

_In the caldron boil and bake; _

_Eye of newt, and toe of frog, _

_Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, _

_Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting, _

_Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,— _

_For a charm of powerful trouble, _

_Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. _

Greg was jolted back to reality by Grissom's voice.

"Greg?"

"Sorry Griss. What were you saying?"

"Sara and Nick both came to see me to compliment you on solving your last case. They said you did pretty well, had some good theories. I'm promoting you to a CSI level 3. I'm proud of you."

Greg had a sudden overwhelming desire to throw his arms around Grissom but his common sense got the better of him That really showed how much he had grown up since he began working here. His common sense now outweighed his sense of fun. Thanking Grissom, he ran out into the hallway and hugged the first person he saw. Catherine was the unsuspecting bystander.

"I just got promoted!" He sang. "Come on let's go find the rest! Shift is nearly over we can go to that new Italian place, on me!"

Catherine laughed at his eagerness and followed him to the breakroom, congratulating him.

"G, I fixed your precious machine. Twice in three days now. I'm gonna teach you what to do for next time - "

"I'm a CSI level three!" he shouted enthusiastically. "Come on, we're going out!" Where's Sara and Warrick?"

Sara Sidle stood in the doorway.

"Grissom listened to us." she said incredulously.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU"

Greg threw his arms around her.

"You too Nick" he smiled.

He found Warrick in Grissom's office and managed to persuade the two of them to come out for Italian.

As they were leaving he stopped. He gazed down at the old DNA lab, wher Wendy was running things throught the machine. He felt a twang of guilt. Everybody had to star somewhere. He remembered watching the CSI's go out for dinner and wishing he was part of that elite crowd. Lab rats needed a love too.

"Hey Wendy!" he yelled. "We're going out for Italian, wanna come?"

Her eyes lit up and she tossed off her lab coat. "Really?"

"Sure" Greg smiled "It will be fun."

Wendy beamed and ran to meet him.

"Help me round up the others will you?"

"I'd be happy to" she smiled.

So the eleven of them: Greg, Sara, Nick, Catherine, Grissom, Warrick, Wendy, Hodges, Mandy, Archie, Henry and Bobby went to the Italian restraunt. They talked. They laughed. They ate. They even danced. Head back, hands out, as if nobody was watching. And that, Greg realised, was what life was all about.

**THE END**


End file.
